Tape strips are used as ornamental decorations on articles such as motor vehicles. Sometimes the tape strips provide an accent color to the main color on the vehicle. In other cases, they provide a zone of separation between two different colors.
I have found that when tape strips of generally narrow dimension, namely three-eighths of an inch, and principally one-eighth inch width or less, are used as a decorative strip, they are subject to unraveling at their ends. The unraveling occurs because the width dimension of the tape strip does not permit sufficient pressure to be applied to the adhesive on the inner face of the tape strip to cause a secure bonding of that strip to the article to which it is applied. This is particularly true in automotive applications where the ends of the tape strips are generally folded over and hidden behind some metal surface. Application of the tape strip requires the applying person to fold the strip behind the surface and then apply a pressure thereto.
A prior art search was conducted on the tape strip of this invention. The only patent cited in that report was U.S. Pat. No. 2,049,030 for an Adhesive Wrapping Strip. This patent discloses an adhesive wrapping strip where the adhesive was not equally applied to the entire length of the strip, but merely at the end portions thereof where the strip was to be divided.